Cleanliness rating and review system flaw

[Geoff1]

I have been an Air BnB host for 3 years now and my accommodation cleaning and hosting efforts have not altered one iota. What has became prevalent is the lower 'Cleanliness' Rating of my home which is listed as Budget accommodation and this is becoming quite frustrating with the repeated  less-than 4 star reviews for the cleanliness of my listing. To increase the price is not acceptable for me as this accommodation is nothing more than basically a central location for an overnight stay for travellers completing the Great Ocean Road. There is nothing wrong with the rating system but it does not take into account that some accommodation is not 5 star but is specifically the average and that is the problem. My guests all leave very positive reviews on their stay but cannot be expected to give 4-5 star  reviews for what is specifically a very comfortable and convivial resting place in creation and execution.

If my guests want 5 star and 4 star accommodation there is no shortage of $100-$300 per night  accommodation places available in my location. My business is not in that target market and prices start at $40 to $55 fo peak summer accomodation. Air BnB is now beginning to show the first signs of excluding the base accommodation which was originally made available to customers around the world. Air BnB have now attracted a greater guest clientèle who simply expect to pay less for accommodation and still expect the same quality of service that they get for paying more and staying at the established commercial motel chains. My guests reviews are not an accurate description of the great accommodation service delivered without taking into account the words written at the same time as the click on the stars by my guests.

With success comes change and the growing number users who want the same as what they are leaving, for less has became an issue for hosts.

[Geoff1]

The Star Rating system is too simple for accuraccy and to give a clear indication of the quality of the accomodation. The following is my accomodation ratings from another international site from my guests paying the same rates in the past three years, where cleanliness has the following rating; "10.0 Cleanliness"

9.3 Value For Money 9.3 Security 10.0 Location

10.0 Staff 1 0.0 Atmosphere 10.0 Cleanliness

8.7 Facilities.

Air BnB has a 'Star' Rating which is very simple and easy to use, but is inadequate for the volume of guests andthe intricacies ofthe clients these days. a Five Star rating in the accomodation market place is com[parable to the Hyatt or Hilton motel chain in my estimation. A home like mine would never be able to maintain a consistent FOUR star rating with that industry benchmark. The honesty of my guests giving Three Star ratings is not a slur on my accomodation or trhe quality of AirBnB it is the fair score of cleanliness in an industry of diversity.

Changing to a 10 pint system would be a lot fairer and accurate given the variety of accomodation in Air BnB listings.

[Shirley1]

You've got so many reviews for your listings that will 'sell' your guests into staying at your property and I agree with Monica that is what's important.

What's also misleading about the cleanliness rating is if 1 or 2 guests out of 100 give you 4 stars instead of 5, the 4 star rating is frozen in time. I was dinged a 4 from my very first guest and we're going on our 3rd year of hosting and all my reviews have an overall rating of 5 stars. 

[Rob36]

I agree (although I still do not know how to see my star ratings are, review-by-reivew).    When I was remodelling my outer room, the room I use (and do not share), as soon as anyone inquired, I let them know ahead of time what was going on in the space.  I kept the bathroom and the guest room at the usual level of cleanliness; in fact, the guest room improved.   Also, I tend to restate salient points about my setup (such as, not sharing the kitchenette in my bedroom) before they reserve.   My point is, I thought star-ratings and all ratings had to do with living up to the advertisement and the guests' expectations, not comparing one space to a completely different type of accommodation.

[Zacharias0]

Indeed. Once you get a ding it's honestly difficult to overcome. The reviews don't seem to be averaged.

[Monica4]

I ignore my stars. I know that my guests read the reviews and that is all that matter. I also have budget accommodations - a very modest farmhouse with no TV, no radio, no BBQ, no meals... In fact, my establishment only has a 2 star rating on the tourism page. So I am pleased that I get the good reviews.

You will always have guests if you keep your rates low and stay established for a long time. The airbnb hosts that go all out to give everytning to their guests for a low price will not last long. A large number of good reviews and commitment for a good long time are so much more important.

[Jessa0]

Agree with @Monica4 - focus on booking rates and fairly happy guests and you will fare well in your section. I'm also budget, like 90% of hosts in my area - the high scoring ones burn out and go off line within a few months here. 

[Estefania5]

But isn't the point to have a "clean" place that gets reviewed well because they enjoyed their stay?

[Sharon12]

Hi Geoff, did you get a reply from AirBnb or did they remove your listing? Thanks, sharon

[Geoff1]

Hi Sharon, AirBnB replied and all was good the system is being reviewed as it stands now. On seeing my comments and the satisfaction with guests from staying with me my status ws not affected. What is part ofthe reason is also that AirBnB is now attracting guests who prevously used motels or other accomodation forms. These guests do not 'get' the difference of Air BnB inbeing a personal home stay in my case as opposed to a bland room, bed facility type of accomodation. 

[Susan47]

I'm now frustrated about this, too. Just got an email saying I've had 2 less-than-5-star cleanliness ratings in a row. With the airbnb threat that after 2 more not-perfect cleanliness ratings my listing can be deactivated, I don't know what I can do about this.

First of all, I scrub the entire suite for each booking, including washing all linens INCLUDING quilts and comforters. The suite is always spotless.

Second of all, the only negative comments were that 1) the bathroom was "not updated" (it's an original, vintage bathroom in a 1950 house, with fixtures that all work, recent tile on the floor, and new stylish grab bars); and the other "negative" was 2) "meh", whatever that means.

I'm sure some people feel that "old" equals "not clean". But that's not accurate.

Most of my guests have loved staying here, and ALL of them, including the one who was disappointed that the bathroom was vintage, say the place is "very clean."

I haven't changed anything about how I prep the suite.  It's a ton of work to keep it clean and set up for guests. But some customers seem to think that we are all the Ritz, even though they're not paying for or choosing to stay in 5-star hotels.

Does anyone know what can be done about this problem? With airbnb's threat of delisting, they're choosing to take away my livelihood.

Susan

[Geoff1]

Im my case I contacted Air BnB and they were very good with the reply. Simply the rating system is a guidline method that is under review. On seeing my reviews the Airbnb responce was that all was fine and I would not be delisted. I recomend contactingthem with the same details as you have posted above. That way the management will have had some feedback from you and can take it all into account consideringthe actual conditions and overall approval of your listing with guests. Happy Hosting

[Erica-and-Chris0]

I have gotten overall good ratings & great reviews, but now that I'm looking in detail at the stars I realize my cleanliness rating is way lower than I realized.  I pay for maid service between each guest, and also do extra cleaning/tidying myself every few days while guests are there, but I live in a 100 year old building with bathroom & kitchen that have not been updated in at least 20 years, probably more.  No amount of cleaning on my end is going to make that look like the Ritz.  So I'm totally with you on the "old" does not necessarily equal "dirty" thing.  It does seem there should be a more detailed system of rating cleanliness vs. accommodation level (budget, mid-level, luxury, etc).  

[Gladys8]

Geoff,

I think the system might work better if the rater were asked to explain why they rated something 3 star or 4 star, being more specific. It used to be this way.

I had a guest break brand new verticle window treatment traverse system, said nothing, and when I did the walk through, I made a claim on his security deposit.  Of course he was angry and gave a negative rating complaining about all sort of non existant things he had never mentioned during his 2 week stay, yet that unfair rating was accepted. Complaints are supposed to be reported within a certain time period which did not happen in this situation. Hosting is a calculated gamble. I can now tell pretty much by the type of questions being asked if the guest may be problematic and have unrealistic expectations.

[Troy9]

I certainly agree one can guage certain things about guests. But at the same time I think guests that may ask too many nagging questions initially may turn out to be decent guests at the end.